Synopsis
The true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker who finds God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been kidnapped and pressed into duty as soldiers.
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Cast
- Gerard ButlerSam Childers
- Michelle MonaghanLynn
- Kathy BakerDaisy
- Richard GoteriGun Shop Owner
- Peter CareyBill Wallace
- Barbara CovenShannon Wallace
- Michael ShannonDonnie
- Ryann CamposPaige #1
- Madeline CarrollPaige #2
- Mandalynn CarlsonPaige's Friend
Recommendations
- 80
Boxoffice Magazine
The exploitation title may not do it any favors, but this biopic based on the incredible life journey of Sam Childers is gripping, inspirational and well told. - 75
The A.V. Club
Machine Gun Preacher is stirring when it presents Childers as a hero, but it does its most impressive work when it addresses him as a flawed, struggling, but still determined man. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
One can't escape the nagging feeling that the film doesn't dig deeply enough into its real-life hero. The film doesn't explore all those "whys" and "whats." - 50
Village Voice
Machine Gun Preacher is the umpteenth onscreen iteration of a white savior aiding the most desperate in Africa. - 50
Slant Magazine
Marc Forster regards the real-life Childers's evolution from heroin-addicted, wife-beating (implied), gun-toting oblivion to born-again do-gooderism with motorized aloofness. - 50
Movieline
Gerard Butler, who's honed his screen persona as a brutish, charismatic jerk, isn't a bad fit for the role of Sam, even if he's more believable spraying bullets and stabbing hitchhikers than he is delivering a sermon. - 50
IndieWire
The action scenes in Machine Gun Preacher work fine on their own, but they cheapen a work that attempts to command great importance. - 40
Variety
While the result is yet another story of African suffering told from a white do-gooder's perspective, this particular do-gooder is intrinsically fascinating enough to warrant attention, albeit more nuanced attention than he receives here.
